Chapter 52
Chapter 52 The Battle of Arts and Skills
“The two started the duel!”
The Qi Practitioner’s heart turned bitter, he looked around, the other Qi Practitioners were all busy watching over the duel of the other upper house disciples, he could only overlook the duel between Zhong Yue and ‘Shui Qingyan’ alone.
In the castle beneath him, the two youngsters fought as if they were life and death enemies, the Qi Practitioner’s heart tensed up watching the two dueling each other.
Zhong Yue’s leg crushed the stone pillar in half, what was shocking was that he did not use that stone pillar as a close quarter combat weapon but rather he launched it out like a javelin – Hu! – He twisted his waist and hurled the stone pillar out with all his might!
The stone pillar was like a strong and powerful javelin, when it was thrown into the air, the winds around it were blasting and trembling the eardrums of the others beside it as if their eardrums were on the verge of bursting away, it pierced through the air like a flash of lightning towards ‘Shui Qingyan’!
“【Water Dragon Twist】!”
‘Shui Qingyan’’s sleeves fluttered in the air, her psyche gushed out into billowing waves of water currents and formed into three cerulean water dragons, the three water dragons twisted around each other like a gigantic hemp rope, whirling while striking towards the stone pillar.
Shrill sounds could be heard and the shattered rocks scattered all around the place; the stone pillar came hurling with immense strength and force but when met with the three water dragons, the hundred over feet long stone pillar was pulverized into stone powder!
The ground unburrowed and one after another, cerulean water dragons flew out from the underground and pounced down towards Zhong Yue with their dreadful dragon claws. He quickly moved backwards to evade the dragon claws, wherever the water dragons struck, stones and rocks cluttered around and the street path was clustered with craters!
The water dragons twisted themselves in groups of three whirling and pouncing down on Zhong Yue, if they missed they would drill into the ground and disappear, leaving only deep holes on the floor!
The next moment, the three Jiao Dragons erupted out from the ground and launched a deadly assault on Zhong Yue!
“True quintessence of Shui Tu Clan’s【Water Dragon Visualization Art】!”
The Qi Practitioner in the mid-air was shocked, the disciples that were imparted with the true quiddities were usually the exceptionally talented ones, who would know that ‘Shui Qingyan’, who was usually insignificant was also imparted with the true quintessence of an art and cultivated the【Water Dragon Visualization Art】to such a level.
Shui Qingyan’s water dragon had all the elements – skin, flesh, bones, veins, blood, spirit and aura.. It was all seemingly genuine and authentic. Her psyche was also at the level of actualization of virtuality, the Jiao Dragon she formed was ever-changing and ethereal, with such prowess, there would definitely be a spot for her in the top ten rankings among the upper house disciples!
On the other side, Zhong Yue was taking steps back to avoid the water dragons while his fingers continuously flickered in the air. Every flick of his fingers would cause his psyche to coalesce a lightning dragon and compel it to strike through the water dragons towards ‘Shui Qingyan’!
The thin and tiny lightning dragons were like lightning and Jiao dragons but they were actually Sword Qi formed by his psyche containing the force of the lightning and the power of the Jiao Dragons.
Among the two techniques, he had only grasped the true quintessence of the Spring Thunder Sword Skill while the sword skill was far weaker than the【Water Dragon Visualization Art】. But along with the power of the Jiao Dragons and the totem carvings of the Boundless Great Sword Qi as the core, the little lightning dragons were in fact, no weaker than any soul weapon!
This was also why when Zhong Yue was dueling with Shui Qinghe, the lightning Jiao Dragons-formed Sword Qi was able to triumph over Shui Qinghe’s Bazhen Swords.
Zhong Yue’s lightning Jiao Dragon Sword Qi was more shocking, they flashed around like lightning and in seconds, pierced through the water dragons to the sides of ‘Shui Qingyan’, the dragon-shaped Sword Qi slashed and cuts fiercely!
Right at this moment, there were shields with aqueous patterns appearing out of nowhere around ‘Shui Qingyan’, locking down the dragon-shaped Sword Qis, the moment they clashed together, the water patterns rippled while the totem carvings on the shields were sliced broken but the Sword Qi still could not break through her defense.
Kacha kacha!
When Zhong Yue was moving backwards, his legs were like two big scythes slicing the sides of the street; one after another, the stone pillars were slashed and as the young man slammed his palms on the broken stone pillars, they were all hurled towards Shui Qingyan, the sound of the winds shattered the windows on the buildings into pieces!
Thankfully, all the buildings in the castle were the psyche transformations of the Shen Dragon, they were not physical objects as if they were, the buildings would collapse the moment the two youngsters clashed together.
“Even the shield is of true quintessence!”
In mid-air, the Qi Practitioner stared at the water shields around ‘Shui Qingyan’, his heart was filled with disbelieve.
The water shields were also one of the secret techniques of the Shui Tu Clan, a water style technique that goes by the name of【Riptide Shield Visualization Art】.
‘Shui Qingyan’ was only a young little girl that entered the upper house as a disciple for less than half a year but she was already practicing the true quintessence of two secret techniques and possessed the Sword Cocoons of the Shui Tu Clan elder Shui Zian. The Qi Practitioner quickly realized that Shui Qinghe was not the core disciple of the Shui Tu Can, but rather, the young lady beneath him was the true core disciple!
“Could it be that this little girl has an innate spirit body, or otherwise how did her prowess increase so rapidly? But that doesn’t make sense either, if she is an innate spirit body, she would be a Qi Practitioner by now….” The Qi Practitioner was confused.
Suddenly, Zhong Yue’s heart was alerted, he halted for a split second and a sudden flash of lightning burst out from his feet, pushing him into the air. The moment he launched himself into the air, the ground beneath him erupted, a lotus made its appearance and with its flower buds bloomed out gracefully, the flower pistils shot out like swords towards Zhong Yue.
At the same time, the sound of the soil erupting could be heard as the ground trembled and the street was filled with water lotuses. Their pink-colored flower buds bloomed and the pistils shot into the air; all of a sudden, the whole street was flooded with the water Sword Qi!
“Water Lotus Sword Qi, another true quintessence!”
The Qi Practitioner beside could not help but to exclaim out in shock, “This young lady of the Shui Tu Clan, even if she didn’t use the Ten Malefic Weapons, she will still be the strongest in the upper house!”
On the street, the water lotuses bloomed gracefully, the flower pistils slashed and cut like swords, the scene was indeed shocking to the others. While Zhong Yue was like a mighty dragon soaring and fluttering in the skies, he landed on a nine-floored high building beside the street, with but a thought on his psyche, tens of thin and tiny dragons were formed and clashed with the water Sword Qi.
A light drizzle of rain fell as the water Sword Qi were destroyed.
‘Shui Qingyan’ moved, beneath her feet, tides of water lifted her up higher and higher, she took another step and she was already on the high building, facing squarely with Zhong Yue.
Riptide shields around her loomed out whenever the dragon-shaped Sword Qi struck, the dragon-shaped Sword Qis were intensive but the riptide shields were also great in number, the two forces clashed and emanated sounds like an elegant musical instrument.
“These two, they have both achieved the level of unconscious visualization….” The Qi Practitioner mumbled to himself.
The ability to actualize the virtuality was indicative of the prowess of the cultivator’s psyche while to visualize subconsciously and unconsciously pertained to the applications of the psyche. Among the two, subconsciously visualization is the essential skill for a Qi Practitioner, like how humans were able to drink, eat and sleep without intentionally thinking about it.
While the unconscious visualization was achieved when one visualized naturally without any thoughts as to how humans breathed, whether it be the attacking speed or rate, unconscious visualization was way beyond the level of subconscious visualization!
Even the Qi Practitioner himself had only achieved the level of subconscious visualization, he was still a distance away from being able to visualize unconsciously; but the two youngsters, Zhong Yue and ‘Shui Qingyan’ were both able to achieve the level of unconscious visualization, he could not help but to fall into a deep spell of despondency.
Krong krong – the building was shaking and suddenly the floor below Zhong Yue was blasted away, one after another, dreadful water dragons crawled out from the building and pounced onto Zhong Yue.
Zhong Yue quickly shifted his positions, he slid and evaded the water dragon strikes while slowly coming close to ‘Shui Qingyan’. As the water dragons crashed in and out of the building, the wooden-structured high building was on the verge of collapsing.
“Unsheathe!”
As Zhong Yue murmured, the Dragon Scale Sword in the sword scabbard flew out into his hands.
“Jiao Dragon Winding Body!”
Zhong Yue again murmured, the psyche in his body materialized into a ferocious Jiao Dragon winding around him, he stood on two dragons with a dragon on each of his four limbs, even the Dragon Scale Sword was environed with a Jiao Dragon. The two lightning Jiao Dragon beneath his feet carried him and charged right at ‘Shui Qingyan’!
Around him, the water dragons crashed out from the high building and with their dragon heads up high, they pounced down onto Zhong Yue. At that instant, pillars and walls fell off from the structure and the high building finally collapsed.
But Zhong Yue was still rushing towards ‘Shui Qingyan’ without decreasing his speed, instead, he was getting faster and faster, with the two dragons beneath him, he charged fiercely at ‘Shui Qingyan’.
‘Shui Qingyan’ released a shout, a Hebo that was over a hundred feet tall appeared behind her, it waved its hand as if it was grabbing something, the air rippled like water and an eighty feet long ice apparition sword came out of nowhere slashing down towards Zhong Yue!
Sword rays flashes, thunders rumbled and Jiao Dragon whistled, along with the crumbling sound of the high building collapsing, the Hebo great sword and Dragon Scale Sword clashed into one another – Zheng zheng zheng – explosive sounds resounded throughout the whole street.
By now, the high building was nearly entirely collapsed, the two youngsters were both standing in mid-air clashing into one another at great speed, so quick that one could not fully capture their movements with naked eyes.
The Qi Practitioner’s heart was twitching almost into a clump, he was nervous as he closely watched the duel of the two youngsters.
“The Hebo body and Hebo sword, another two quiddities, this Shui Tu Clan young lady is really surprising, just exactly how many quiddities was she imparted with?”
The Qi Practitioner was bemoaning, “And this Zhong Shan Clan member, he is really abnormal, with only the true quintessence of the inferior Spring Thunder Swords Skill, he was able to compete with this Shui Tu Clan talented young lady for so long until now! Why am I so unlucky to have met with these two freaks?”
“You are strong, but it seems like you might have just known something you shouldn’t, it is time for you to go.”
‘Shui Qingyan’’s eyes flashed, she mumbled. Over hundreds of water lotuses appeared in mid-air surrounding her and Zhong Yue and the water lotuses bloomed elegantly.
As the water lotuses flowers bloomed, the water lotus Sword Qis filled the surroundings, each and every water lotus had eighteen flower pistils which formed eighteen Sword Qis, with all the over hundred water lotuses together, nearly two thousand Sword Qis were formed and deluged the air.
The Sword Qis thrust towards Zhong Yue from every direction, there was nowhere for him to hide and no avenue for evasion!
The Qi Practitioner’s mind was blank, ‘Shui Qingyan’’s psyche prowess is not typical of an upper house disciple, such a strong and solid psyche, her psyche was already at the level of Qi Practitioners!
“Brat Yue, you need my help?”
In Zhong Yue’s psyche ocean, Xin Huo was filled trepidation, he looked through Zhong Yue’s eyes and all he could see was only a sky full of Sword Qi and a god-devil like Hebo with a giant sword, he quickly said, “Quick, hand over control of your body….”
“No need for that! Xin Huo, I’ll let you see what I’ve achieved after going through all that training, I’ll let you see whether if I’ve met with your expectations and requirements, to see if my strength is strong enough! I will let you witness the full explosive force of my strength!”
Zhong Yue released a loud shout, and the Jiao Dragons winding around him disappeared, dragon scales could be seen crawling all over his body in, behind him stood the faint figure of a monster beast, like a dragon, a horse, and a tiger, it was the Xiang Dragon.
He did not visualize the Sui Sovereign but instead, chose the Xiang Dragon which he was most familiar with. The Xiang Dragon behind his body was materialized by his psyche and the next moment, it entered his body, Zhong Yue let out a muffled dragon whistle.
When the Sword Qis thrust towards Zhong Yue’s dragon scaled body – Peng peng peng – explosive sounds could be heard as the Sword Qis struck on him, the dragon scales quivered but he was left unharmed, not even a single dragon scale was pierced through!
Zhong Yue lifted his fist and punched towards the giant sword of Hebo, at that instant, the ice apparition sword crackled and cracks crawled all over the sword. Hebo slammed its other fist down and clashed with Zhong Yue’s other fist, muffled sounds of clattering rumbled like thunder.
‘Shui Qingyan’’s eyes were filled with surprise as the Hebo body behind her was blasted away!
Behind Zhong Yue, the Xiang Dragon tail slashed around and the Dragon Scale Sword thrust right towards ‘Shui Qingyan’s head, in an instant, it was an inch away from her forehead, the Sword Qi was sharp and incisive and it was on the verge of piercing through the young lady’s head!